DIGITAL SOUNDS FOR A DIGITAL ERA.

The past 20 years have been often described as the era of images. Presently, 1.8 billion images are uploaded every day and images are critical in driving online engagement – and revenues – for most businesses and advertising channels, who are submitting their audiences to up to 10,000 ads every day.

 But looking back to the past 5 years, pictures seem also to have lost part of their credibility, as more and more people become image creators and the medium has become the target of deepfake technology. While the case is studied, and we wait for regulatory resolutions, trust in the visual media is eroding.

 At the same time, other sources have been reporting about how podcast and live interviews are maintaining their share in the ever-growing arenas of news making, education, as well as pure entertainment. And on the hardware side, recently shared business figures showed that AirPods generate more revenues than the whole of Twitter.

 So, what is the role of sound in the 21st century?

 I was recently discussing this topics with Jonathan Levine, Founder & CEO of New York-based, premium audio company Master & Dynamic. A consumer products entrepreneur since 1994, he has built his company with a focus on design, materials, craftsmanship and sophisticated technology, establishing long-term partnerships with leading luxury and lifestyle brands including Louis Vuitton, Mercedes-Benz/AMG, Leica Camera and Nike. As an expert in the field of quality audio, I asked him a few questions to find out more.

 MA – Could you tell me more about the relationship of ultra-high net worth individuals with technology?

JL -– I believe the relationship between UHNWI and technology has never been healthier and more symbiotic. To start, let’s look at where most of the wealth has been generated globally over the past twenty years: tech firms. Whether it’s Silicon Valley, New York or London, technology has become a driving force in almost every aspect of life and a phenomenal tool for enhancing one’s own life and use of time. If time is the ultimate luxury, then the UHNWI now has a myriad of ways to utilize technology to enhance their professional and personal lives. Of course, paramount in this is the knowledge of when to completely disengage from technology – and use it to your own advantage.”

MA – Technology keeps transforming at an incredible pace. What is the next game changer in the world of sound?

JL – Perhaps the last thing you’d expect an entrepreneur in the “sound space” to speak about is hearing health and hearing loss – but I think it’s going to become a huge problem over the next 50 years. I did not start using headphones or earphones on a regular basis until I was well into my 40’s. However, today it is very common for teens and pre-teens to be using earphones on a daily basis. Often times, the quality of these products is pretty terrible, which causes users to turn the volume up very, very high. The impact over time to one’s hearing can be dramatic and unfortunately irreversible. As an industry, we must look at ways to meaningfully guard against risks without changing the overall user experience.

MA – How does sound fit with our digital lives these days - when do people want sounds, and when do they turn them off in their day – when home, working, having private time or sharing it with friends?

JL – 2020 changed our relationship with sounds. Working from home made personal sounds a greater part of everyday life. No matter what your environment was, a large home or a tiny apartment, everyone created their own “sound routine” throughout the day. Headphones and earphones, while ubiquitous during pre-Covid morning commutes or at the office, took on a different role: 2020 was less about “tuning out” unwanted noise than about “tuning in” to focus. For those like me, who felt that their productivity increased while working from home, headphones and earphones were always within reach for those seemingly never-ending Zoom calls or, better yet, for the numerous wonderful podcasts that engaged and educated us.

Interestingly, we had this discussion on Clubhouse. The platform was created in April 2020 by Paul Davison and Rohan Seth, and as of February 2021 it was hosting up to 10 million active users every week. So much so that the same month the up-and-coming social platform was valued at $1 billion – a Unicorn Startup.

The beauty of the platform lies in its spontaneous attitude. As a user, it’s no more complex than radio – simply join in and listen – with the added chance to actually have a direct conversation with anyone who’s hosting the room.

From a production side, it is way less demanding than sourcing imagery or videos to go with the discussion, and thus much more agile in being able to re-shaping around what is picking the audience’s interest, ensuring the engagement level is potentially way higher than traditional broadcasted audio channels.

While the app content starts maturing – and hosts become more skilled – its appeal is undoubted, as it invented a new way to make sounds, and words, extremely seductive and powerful, in a way that only music seemed to have been able to generate so far.

One thing is sure – sound will keep being the incredible soundtrack of our experiences, memories, feelings – whether analog or digital, personal or shared – for the current and next generations.